Christopher Kennedy’s Dubious Reasons for Firing James Kilgore

by VanessaVaile

Christopher Kennedy, chair of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees, has given an interview to a local newspaper in which he explains why he believes that adjunct instructor James Kilgore must be fired for his involvement in the 1970s radical group, the Symbionese Liberation Army. Kilgore served time in prison for possessing explosives and second-degree murder after a person was killed during a 1975 bank robbery Kilgore participated in.

Kennedy’s arguments for dismissing Kilgore are extremely disturbing. They indicate that Kennedy does not understand what academic freedom means, and that he places “sensitivity” and public opinion above academic merit in hiring procedures.